Woodman Spare That Tree

A ballad brimming with melodrama and nostalgia from 1837.
Words by George Pope Morris.
Music by Henry Russell.

The sheet music:

Woodman-Spare-That-Tree – SHEET MUSICDownload

Accompaniment:

Woodman-Spare-That-Tree – MIDIDownload

Lyrics

  1. Woodman spare that tree
    Touch not a single bough
    In youth it shelter’d me
    And I’ll protect it now
    ’Twas my forefather’s hand
    That placed it near his cot
    There, woodman, let it stand
    Thy axe shall harm it not
  2. That old familar tree
    Whose glory and renown
    Are spread o’er land and sea
    And wouldst thou hack it down?
    Woodman, forbear thy stroke
    Cut not its earth, bound ties
    Oh! spare that aged oak
    Now towering to the skies
  3. When but an idle boy
    I sought its grateful shade
    In all their gushing joy
    Here, too, my sisters played
    My mother kiss’d me here
    My father press’d my hand
    Forgive this foolish tear
    But let that old oak stand
  4. My heart strings round thee cling
    Close as thy bark, old friend
    Here shall the wild bird sing
    And still thy branches bend
    Old tree! the storm still brave
    And, woodman, leave the spot
    While I’ve a hand to save
    Thy axe shall harm it not

Sung here by Fred Feild: